


New Start

by navaan



Category: Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Genre: Aftermath, F/M, Introspection, POV Female Character, Post-Movie(s), Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-19
Updated: 2013-02-19
Packaged: 2017-11-29 19:13:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/690476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/navaan/pseuds/navaan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Selina wonders about Bruce Wayne, the man who gave her a way out - even though she betrayed him to get what she wants - and then got himself killed to protect others. And suddenly she feels things aren't adding up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	New Start

It’s Bruce Wayne who gives her the means to make a new life for herself - although she has no idea why he has done it. He has nearly been killed because of her and then he still goes out of his way to give her what she has been after all along: A way out. A new life. A chance to start over and reinvent herself for good.

Selina is very good at figuring people out and getting what she wants. She's always been clever. That's why she has survived. She's honed her skills into special talents and made the best of every situation. She knows how to be selfish, because nobody will take care of you but yourself. She knows how to be cruel and ruthless and sometimes full of righteous anger. She knows how to be kind, because she's knows what it's like to be down. Most of the time she just likes to be challenged.

But with Bruce Wayne she feels she’s in over her head. Nothing’s what it seems. He just doesn’t make sense. A billionaire playing superhero, fighting for a city that doesn’t care, trusting the thief who has betrayed him once already - giving her a way to make herself better.

It just doesn’t make sense. At least until very late in the game when she figures something out that might be the information she’s been missing all along.

Bruce Wayne is only the mask. Batman is the real man, even after years of hiding himself away in his dark mansion.

After all that has happened between them he is still willing to set her free. Now she can finally start over, give herself a new life and leave all of this behind. She would like him to see that he should really do the same. He should have a life away from this indifferent city he's built his life around. Leave. Be selfish. Like her.

She owes him so much and she doesn't like to owe anything to anyone.

But now she owes a dead man. She knows when she see the explosion from afar and no black spot emerges, announcing the survival of the Batman.

Something is wrong and she feels she should know what it is.

But as always she takes the cards life has dealt her and moves on, leaves Gotham and all the regret behind.

 

 

She stays in New York for a short while. There is no need to decide what she will do next, because she has been planning this moment for a very long time. Europe will be her next stop, after picking up the funds she's stashed away for her long awaited retirement and giving herself a new life with all the baggage erased. Selina Kyle is finally free to go out and make herself a new life.

The computer is already working on giving her all she ever wanted. She has chosen a new history for herself and now she only needs a new passport.

Her new life is about to begin.

Behind her the television is turned on, but she tries hard not to pay too much attention. The pictures of Gotham after the lock down are all over the news and there is no escaping them. Videos of the Batman flying out the bomb over the bay and closeups of the explosion are everywhere. Selina doesn't need to see it again.

Seeing it once has been more than enough.

 _Stupid, stupid man,_ she thinks and remembers the moment when she'd asked him to come with her – leave everything behind and live.

Now the city still stands. But the man is gone.

Selina thinks that this might be the biggest injustice she's ever faced.

The computer is working away and she watches the progress with a detached interest. When suddenly something occurs to her. She has no idea whose genius came up with this piece of programming that will allow her to start over – but she can make an educated guess.

And somehow that seems very important. Like a piece of a puzzle suddenly falling into place.

She turns to look over her shoulder, staring at the television screen intently and thinks that maybe she just doesn't want it to be true, that she sees clues where there are none to find.

It's not like her to be sad about a romance that could have been but never really was. But it seems Bruce Wayne had left an impression that isn't easily shrugged off.

That is new. Definitely new.

 

 

Selina plans to leave New York exactly five days after Gotham is “freed”.

She always follows her own plans.

But this time she doesn't.

Instead she finds herself hacking into databases, looking at records of Wayne Industries. She is better with breaking into a building than she is with data theft, but she tells herself that theft is a thing of the past anyway and she's really only _investigating_ \- not stealing.

An hour in she asks herself what she's doing and just stops. If Bruce Wayne is alive, it's no business of hers.

Half an hour after stopping she admits to herself that she needs to find some form of closure for her own peace of mind.

She gets back to work, looking for clues.

And then she finds it. Money transfers. A name.

Kyle.

Not her name anymore.

It's a message.

An invitation.

And she's finally ready to leave the States behind.

 

 

She can’t say she’s surprised when she finally meets him. Two week ago she's figured out that he must still be alive. And he's left a trail, obvious enough to be intentional, but not obvious enough to blow his cover. Subtle and secretive.

Selina really likes his style.

He leaves a trail and she follows. Because she's _curious_ and wants to _know_ and she likes the game. Also, because she wants to know what could have been and what could be.

It's more fun than it should be, but she hates to think that he knows exactly what would draw her in.

But then she goes with a smile.

He is waiting for her in the Galleria degli Uffizi in front of _The Birth of Venus_ , and although she sneaks up on him they are both aware of the fact that he's spotted her the moment she has walked into the room hiding herself in a group of French tourists. “Does this painting have a special meaning for you?” she asks, when she finally comes to stand beside him.

Bruce smiles. “Does it for you?” he asks back. “I hope you're not here to get your hands on it.”

His smile looks sincere, but he also looks a bit weary. There is a little white scar on his jaw that hasn't been there the last time she's seen him. Of course, she's been aware of the cane he's leaning on since she's got the first glimpse of him, but this is the first time she considers the possibility that he might actually need it. She looks at the painting, the perfect, idealized bodies of Botticelli, thinks about the meanings of birth, of the fresh start she can finally make for herself, the fresh start he's allowing himself to make and suddenly thinks that there is nothing she really wants to say about any of it. It's no longer important. She has already moved on. Instead she hooks her arm through his and says: “It's nice to meet you, Mr. Kyle. I'm sure we'll get along splendidly.” But she doesn't take her eyes away from the painting, waiting for him to react, only chancing a covert glance at him from the corner of her eyes.

When Bruce smiles this time it reaches his eyes. It makes him look younger and all the tiredness seems to bleed away.

This is the real man. The man who has hidden behind masks for too long – just like her. She thinks that he's all the more interesting for it. “To new beginnings,” he whispers under his breath as if they're sharing a private toast. There's a hint of something restrained and powerful in his voice. She can see it in his eyes, too. The hint of Gotham. The city still has a hold of him. His new beginning hasn't really started yet, but he wants it to. And Selina is curious what he'll do with his fresh start.

So many layers to unravel.

A group of people have gathered around them, probably wanting to bask in a moment in the glory of one of the most renown Renaissance paintings. So Selina softly pulls on his arm and he allows her to lead him away. When she meets his eyes he's studying her intently, as if she's the mystery and he wants to unravel her.

Maybe they can unravel each other.

Maybe she isn't looking for closure after all.

Maybe she's been looking for a good place to finally start over.

And maybe, just maybe, she's going to stay with him for a while. Just to satisfy her curiosity, of course.


End file.
